Drive for conveyers.



W. D. MOUNT.

DRIVE FOR CONVEYERS.

APPLIGATION FILED Amma, 1912.

Patented July 16, 1912.

WIL'ILIIAIYI D. MOUNT, 0F SALTVILLE, VIRGINIA.

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Specication of vLetters. Patent.

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Application tiled April 23, 1912. Serial No. 692,693.

To all'whom 'it may concern:

IBe it known that I, WILLIAM D. MOUNT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Saltville, in thecounty of Smyth and'State of Virginia, have invented' certain new and useful Improvementsin Drives for Conveyers, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

' This invention relates to conveyers and more. particularly to a novel means for driving thesaine.

The drivev in question is particularly` adapted for use in connection with screw conveyers', which 'are frequently of considarable-'length' and which, in so far as applicant is' aware, have hitherto been driven solely :from the ends thereof. When sucha conveyer is driven 'from one end, a considerabl'e torque is produced in the shaft which is apt todresult in a hrealr-do'wnl ii, for exy ample, the oonveyer channel happens to hecome ci'ogged and which,'in any case, isobjectionable from a mechanical standpoint.

rThe principal object of the present invention therefore is to aHord means tor rotarily 'driving a conveyer shaft. for exam-v ple, and preferahiy that of a screw conveyer, from one or more points 'intermediate the length thereof.

have further sought to accomplish the object just mentioned in such a ina-nner as to expend in friction a minimum amount oi' work.

Stiil another object is to provide a mechanism which shall' he simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture. y r

l further laim to provide means for preventing leakage otmaterial when the latter is being conveyed past the point where the drive is positioned.

These and other objects ot my invention will he hereinafter referred to and the-novel elements and combination of elements whereby they inay be obtained will he. more particularly set forth in the claims. appended hereto. v

lin the accompany-ing drawings vwhich torni a part hereotD and in which like charactors designate 'similar parts throughout the severai views, have exempliied apre- 'ferred construction. lt is to be understoiid7 however, that l do not wish toghe limited in any way to the device shown since i am aware that various changes and modifications niay he made within the purview oft t ttee'ends or which project'into correspondmy invention and without departing vfrom the spirit thereof. I hence desire to be limited only by the scope of the said claims.

Referring to the drawings: Figure l isv a vertical longitudinal section of a fragment of a screw conveyor with my novel. drive in position therein. vF ig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the line II-Il of F ig. 1. Fig-3 is a fragmentary detail sect-ion taken on the line III-III of Fig. 1.- Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of: an extended conveyer. p

The conveyor shaftdesignat-ed l carries the usual screw 2-2 secured ythereupon in any suitable-manner. Suitable ixed casingsr .or pipes 3 are disposed concentrically around the screw in'a well known manner;

suicient clearance, of course,- being provided between the screw and its inclosing or casing parts. These pipes or casings may be provided'with flanges 4; and to each of the langes i 'in the present instance, is bolted a gland-shaped member or. casing part 5, which'is in realit merely a continuation oi "the adjacent pipe 3; the body. of each member 5 having preferably the same interior diameter as that ot the pipes 3. The casing parts 5 are extended toward -ea'ch other but are separated by the hub 6 of sprocket wheel broadly desig- -ed upon each of the members 5 is a bearing ring 9', adapted to t quite snugly around the membery upon which it is seated, but being longitudinally displaceahle thereover through the ,instrumentality of a plurality of springs l0, the inner extremities of which abut against lugs ll which project outwardly at spaced intervals from the surace of the members 5, while the inner extremities of said' 'springs bear directly against the lateral surfaces or the rings 9. S rings l0 .preferably encircle studs 12 w vich are secured in the/said lugs andthe ico inglyshapedrecesses in the rings 9. These pins serve to hold the bearing rlngs against rotation but permit the aforesaid longitudinal displacement of the same with respect to the members 5. The lateral surface of each -ring"9 bears snugly against the-body Y ofthe sprocket wheel, preferably .immediately beyond the hubv thereof, andrit may' be here noted that lone of the functions .of saidrings is to prevent the escapel of' material, which may be travelingl through the conveyer, as the said material-Av passes through 'the sprocket wheel in question.

' As a matter of fact, the interioror bore of the sprocket wheel hub. constitutes apart of. the conveyer casing; but while all other portions of -this casing are normally stationary, this section thereof will be rotated continuously in one direction. The sprocket wheel is centeredwith respect to the shaft 1 by means of a plurality of rollers 13 or the like which bear against the outer surfaces of the rings 9; said rollers preferablyv being disposed in pairs, as shown, each pair of rollers being mounted upon a common bearing pin '14 carried by the sprocket wheel, and vdisposed upon the respective sides thereof.

The sprocket wheel may be driven by a' which is secured to the` shaft 1 vand to the` said sections 2-2 in any suitable manner V-and the parts of the screw may further, if

desired,`be made integral by welding along the lines 20, or in any other suitable manner.- I

Within the'screw section 19, andalspref erably secured thereto,'is acollar 21 which may be keyed upon the shaft 1y `as atj23. Outwardly projecting from this colla;` is 'a stem or arm 24 which in the preferred -construction is shaped on one side thereof, as

shown in Fig. 3, to conform clo-sely to the adjacent screw section 20; the latter being recessed at the edge thereof as at 25. The extremity of the arm 24 projects out -into this recess and is in engagement with a pair of interiorly directed driving lugs 26 in the bore of the rotary member or wheel 7 above referred to. j The arm 24 is preferably made separate and distinct fr'om the section of the conveyer screw immediately adjacent thereto since' the screw is usually made of relatively thin material such as sheet metal; and it willV be obeo served that by reason of the construction shown, the working face, which in thepresent instance is that designated 27, of the conveyer is left perfectly smooth, the arm extending outwardly upon the rear or non-l working face of the screw. The material urged along bythe. screw hence encounters no` obstruction and the screw twists -therethrough unimpededly.

It is to be understood, of course, that the conveyer sections fare preferably, rigidly mounted and-I have indicated in Fig. 1 a means for supporting the extremities vof these casings and' theintermediate casing boltedto alcomm'on base 28 which maintains said parts in spaced relationship.

The operation of the device 1s as The sprocket wheel 7, or its equivalent, will be driven by the chain 15 and will .rotate smoothly andconcentrically with respect to 'parts and drive mechanism. As shown here- Ain, the fianges 4 of the casing parts 5 are follows ,Assuming thatrmaterialis to be conveyed the shaft 1 by reason of the engagement of the rollers 13 with the rings 9. These latter will, of course, be always lightly engaged -frictionally with the .sides of the .sprocket wheel,.so that by practically no possibility canmaterial whichis ordinarily conveyed by means of a screw conveyer leak out-V around the saidwheel. Furthermore, any wear which may occur between the rings 9' and the sprocket wheel will be `taken up automatically by the springs 10. The sprocket wheel 7`carries around with it the arm 24: by reason of the engagement of the 'extremity of the latter with the driving lugs 26 vand this arm in turn rotates or drives the screw shaft by means of the collar 2 1.

1n general it will'be` seenthat themechanism in question is exceedingly simple in principle and in practice vhas been'found to ,eiiciently overcome the disadvantages encountered where itl has been attempted to drive a long screw conveyer from one or limited; but, further', that the flights are unl.interrupted and continuous, despite the'fact -that it may be driven from a plurality of spaced points along its length. 1n other i Words, the vintroduction of a drive wherever desired inno way renders the conveyer discontinuous, so. that there 1s no interferenceV withy the normal Iiow of the material conveyed thereby.

' Theiadvantage of thus` driving` a conveyer from a plurality'ot points along the length thereof, as shown in Fig. 4, is, of course, ob-

vio-us, and reduces the liability of breakage ofthe' cenveyerr shaft to a minimum. It further has theadvantage of obviating the necessity of shutting down er stopping the operation of the conveyer as afwhole should pendently of the respective adjacent drives. l

' Having thus describedmy invention, whaty I' claim is: l f

1. The combination of a conveyerlcompris ingl relatively xed easing parts anda rotata e Ipropelling structure therein adaptedto shift material to be conveyed, longitudinally through said-'casing parts, with means tor rotarily drlving said propelling strueyture, said means being positioned intermediate the extremitiesot| said conveyor and including a driving member, means for ro-,A

tarily mounting said member, and connections between said member and said strueture..

2. The combination of a conveyer comprising relatively fixed easing parts and a. rotatable propelling structure; therein adapted to shift materialtobe conveyed, longitudinally through said casing parts, with means for rotarily driving said propelling structure, said means vbeing positioned intermediate the extremities ot" said conveyer and including a driving member, means lfor rotarily mounting said member,.and connec tions betweensaid member and said structure, a portion of said driving me'ans being disposed between two of said relatively fixed casing parts.

3. The combination of a conveyer comprising substantially alined 1outI spaced Acasing parts and a rotatablefpropelling structure therein adapted to shift materiallto be conveyed, longitudinally through said casing parts, with means for rotarily driving said structure, a portion of said driving means being disposed between said spaced casing parts, and means for substantially. preventing leakage of said material through the space between said 'asing parts.

4. The combination of a conveyer comprising spaced easin r parts and'a rotatable propelling structure iiherein adapted to shift material to be conveyed, longitudinally through said casing parts, with means for rotarily driving said structure, said means ineluding a member a portion of which is disposed between said easing parts and revoluble with respect to the same, and frictional means for substantially prevel'lting leakage of said material between said meinber and said casing parts. 5. Thev combination ot a conveyer com.-

orisin saaced casin(T 1 arts and a rotatable propel ing structure therein adapted to shift material to be l conveyed, longitudinally through said casing parts, with means tor rotarily driving said structure, said means Iincluding a member a portion of which is disposed between said casing parts andi-evoluble with respect to the same, and resiliently acting frictional means for ,substantiallypreventing leakage of said material between said member and said easing parts.

l(3. The combination o't' a conveyer comprising spaced casing parts and a rotatable propelling. structure therein adapted to shitt material to be conveyed, longitudinally through said casing parts, with means for rotarily driving said structure, said means including a member a portion of which is disposed between said casing parts and revoluble with respect to the saine, and yielding means for substantially preventing leakage ot' said material between said member and said casing parts.

7. ln conveying apparatus, a series of casing parts, two ot which are relatively fixed and one of which is revolubly mounted and disposed between said tworelatively fired parts, means for rotating said revolubly mounted part, a rotatable propelling structure common to the fixed and rotatable casing parts above referred to and adapted to shift material to be conveyed, successively through said parts, and connections between said structure and said revolubly mounted casing.

8. In conveying apparatus two spaced apertured' casing parts, a wheel rotarily mounted therebetween, said wheel having a central' aperture therethrough substantially corresponding to the apertures in said casing parts, means for holding the aperture through said wheel in -alinement with the apertures in said parts, said means includ ing a plurality of rcvoluble friction reducing elements, means for propelling material through said 'casing parts, and connections between said-last mentioned means and said wheel.

t). ln conveying apparatus two spaced easing parts, a member rotarily mounted therebetween, said member being centrally apertured to permit of the passage ot' material to be conveyed from one ot' said casing parts to the other, means for propelling said material through said member, connections between said propelling means and said member, and means for centering said member with respect to said casing parts.

10. ln conveying apparatus two spaced casing parts, a member rotarily mounted therebetween, said member being' centrally apertured to permit of the passage of material to be conveyed from one otsaid casing parts to the other, means for propelling said material through said member, connections between said propelling means andv said member, and means for supporting said member' upon said casing parts, said supporting means including friction reducing elements.

11. In conveying apparatus two spaced casing parts, a memberrotarily mounted therebetween, said member being centrally apertured to permit of the passage of mate,-l rial to be conveyed from one of said casing parts to the other, means torpropelling said material through said member, connections between said propelling means and said` member, and means for supporting said member upon said casing parts, -said sup. porting means' including rollers carried by said member, and roller-engaging bearing rings carried by said casing parts.

12.1In conveying apparatus two spaced casing parts, a member rotarily' mounted therebetween, said member being centrally apertured to permit of the passage of material to be conveyed 'from one of said `casing parts to the other, means for propelling said material through said member, connections between'llsaid propelling mleans and said member, .Y and' closure providingmeans adapted to co-act' with said member and said casing parts for'substautially preventing leakage .of said' material therebetween.

1 3. In conveying apparatus two spaced casing parts, a member rotarily mounted therebetween, said member being centrally apertured to permit of the passage of material. to be conveyed from one 'of said casing parts to the other, means for propelling said material through said member, connections between said propelling means and said member, and closure providing means adapted to co-act with said member and said casing parts for substantially preventing ,leakage of lsaid material therebetween, said ingly mounted rings.

14. In conveying apparatus two spaced casing parts, a member rotarily mounted therebetween, said member being centrally apertured to permit of the passage of mateparts to the other, means for propelling said Vmaterial through said member, connections between said propelling. vmeans and said member, closure providing means adapted parts for substantially preventing leakage f of said material therebetween, said closure providing means including yieldmgly mounted bearing rings, and rollers carried by said memberand in engagement with said bearing rings.

' Inwitness whereof, I subscribe my signature, in the'presence of twogwitnesses.

WILLIAM D. MOUNT.

lVitnesses C HAS. E. WILEY, PALMER ST. CLAIR.

rial to be conveyed from one of said casing,

to co-act with said member and said casing closure providing means including yieldf 

